[Noisebridge-discuss] Should NB mirror WikiLeaks?

[jim]

   seems to me that the wikileaks issue is not much 
related to hacking, ergo NB should not put resources 
into it. 



On Tue, 2010-12-07 at 11:03 -0800, Shannon Lee wrote:
> First, due to Wikileaks' nature, I believe that in this case, adding a
> Wikileaks mirror cannot be seen as anything but a political statement
> -- a vote in favor of WIkileaks, essentially.
> 
> 
> Second, this is a charged enough environment that this sort of
> regulation is likely to be interpreted extremely loosely.  
> 
> 
> Third, we can't afford to fight even an egregiously wrong decision on
> this.
> 
> 
> Again, I think that putting up a Wikileaks mirror is an awesome thing
> to do, and many Noisebridgers have, but I don't thing Noisebridge
> should do so.
> 
> 
> --S
> 
> On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 9:59 AM, Sai <sai at saizai.com> wrote:
>         On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 11:50 AM, Shannon Lee
>         <shannon at scatter.com> wrote:
>         > Noisebridge itself is, as I understand it, enjoined from
>         making political statements and/or donations, which I am
>         certain this wold be perceived as.
>         
>         
>         You are IMO incorrect. The ban applies only to *partisan*
>         political
>         activity. Julian Assange and Wikileaks in general have no
>         participation in US elections. E.g. the EFF routinely engages
>         in
>         political speech, lobbying, issue education, etc - but is
>         party-neutral.
>         
>         Merely mirroring information without actually advocating for
>         anything
>         is even more neutral.
>         
>         
>         http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=163395,00.html
>         
>         "Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3)
>         organizations
>         are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly
>         participating
>         in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or
>         in
>         opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.
>         Contributions
>         to political campaign funds or public statements of position
>         (verbal
>         or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or
>         in
>         opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate
>         the
>         prohibition against political campaign activity.  Violating
>         this
>         prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt
>         status
>         and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
>         
>         Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited
>         depending on
>         the facts and circumstances.  For example, certain voter
>         education
>         activities (including presenting public forums and publishing
>         voter
>         education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not
>         constitute
>         prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other
>         activities
>         intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral
>         process,
>         such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would
>         not be
>         prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a
>         non-partisan
>         manner.
>         
>         On the other hand, voter education or registration activities
>         with
>         evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over
>         another; (b)
>         oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of
>         favoring
>         a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited
>         participation or intervention."
>         
>         See more:
>         http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=179750,00.html
>         
>         - Sai
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Shannon Lee
> (503) 539-3700
> 
> "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss